Combined modality treatment of aromatherapy, footsoak, and reflexology relieves fatigue in patients with cancer.

Background: Fatigue is one of the most distressful symptoms experienced by patients with advanced cancer. Aromatherapy, footsoak, and reflexology are popular health care modality treatments in Japan, however, the effectiveness of each treatment for cancer-related fatigue has not been fully established.

Design And Subjects: To investigate the effectiveness of combined modality treatment consisting of aromatherapy, footsoak, and reflexology against fatigue, an open study was performed in 20 terminally ill patients with cancer.